Lars Ulrich

"Beware of Mr. Baker": Give the Drummer Some Slack

Napster-Hating Metallica Comes to Jesus, Er, Spotify

Nearly 13 years after suing Napster, the filesharing site that started it all, the grouchy old men of Metallica have had a come-to-Jesus of sorts with the power of the Interwebz: Today, drummer Lars Ulrich announced that Metallica's music will be coming to Spotify. He even gave Napster co-founder a ... More >>

Metallica Goes Indie (Sort of) with Launch of Blackened Records

After decades of affiliation with Warner Music Group, Bay Area metal giant Metallica is stepping out on its own. Today, the band takes ownership of all of its old masters, and launches its own label, Blackened Records, which will be the home of all future Metallica releases. "It's always been about ... More >>

Fall Arts: Assorted, Uncategorizable Awesomeness

Sharon Van Etten Wants to Tell You a Story

[This post is part of our week-long preview coverage of Outside Lands 2012. Check out more of All Shook Down's Outside Lands coverage, and catch Sharon Van Etten's set this Friday at 1:15 p.m. on Outside Lands' Sutro stage.] In music today, there's no other instrument quite like it: Sharon Van Ette ... More >>

Even Scalped Outside Lands Tickets Are the Best Festival Deal of the Summer, Experts Say

If you didn't manage to get Outside Lands tickets before they sold out, and you still want to go the festival, we've got some good news for you: Experts say that even a scalped ticket to the three-day festival this weekend is the best music festival deal of the summer. The data comes courtesy of Se ... More >>

It's Outside Lands Week in S.F., and We'll Be Covering it All Right Here

The fifth-installment of the Outside Lands music festival begins this Friday, Aug. 10 -- which, hey, is only three days from now! To get you ready, we'll be previewing the confab all week here on All Shook Down, with artist interviews, advice on which acts to catch, info from the festival organizers ... More >>

Lars Ulrich Talks Outside Lands, the Next Metallica Record, and Playing S.F.

Ahead of Metalica's headlining Saturday-night set at Outside Lands this year, drummer Lars Ulrich held a conference call with reporters to talk about Metallica's preparations for the festival. Answering questions from numerous media outlets, Ulrich spoke about his love for the Outside Lands festival ... More >>

Assessing Metallica After 30 Years and Four Nights at the Fillmore

Metallica Turns 30 with Ozzy, Danzig, Rob Halford, and a Roomful of Fanatics

Metallica performing with Glenn Danzig Friday night at the Fillmore.​ Metallica (plus guests) Dec. 9 and 10, 2011 The Fillmore Better than: Turning 30 alone, we're assuming. The birthday party for the biggest metal band in the world came to its finale this weekend with classic songs and surp ... More >>

10 Actually Good Songs on Metallica's Despised Load and Reload Albums

It's not that bad. Really.​ As we celebrate Metallica's 30th Anniversary, it's time to reexamine a popular mindset among critics and fans of the most enduringly popular band in metal history: Many believe that that all four of Metallica's 1980s albums were unimpeachable classics, and that afte ... More >>

Metallica Brings Out Lou Reed, Kid Rock, Mercyful Fate, and More as the 30th Anniversary Party Continues

Metallica at the Fillmore Wednesday night. Notice that James Hetfield isn't wearing a shirt.​ See more of our Metallica Week coverage: Author Brian Lew on the Early Days of Metallica and the Bay Area Thrash Metal Scene Six Signs of Metallica's Pervasive Influence on Pop Culture Metallica Ki ... More >>

Six Signs of Metallica's Pervasive Influence on Pop Culture

​ See more of our Metallica Week coverage: Metallica Kicks off Its 30th Anniversary Week with Notable Guests, Rare Songs, and Lots of Talking Sad But True: How the Black Album Both Made and Ruined Metallica Can't Make It to Metallica's 30th Anniversary Concerts? Celebrate at These Shows In ... More >>

Don't Kill Lulu: Redeeming Lou Reed and Metallica's New Album

Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu: A First Listen

​ What pisses me off is not that Lou Reed is collaborating with one of the more overrated bands of my lifetime, or doing his batshit Lou Reed thing (I rather enjoy his batshit Lou Reed thing) -- it's that he hasn't made a normal record since Ecstasy, one of my favorites of that year. Animal Se ... More >>

Beavis and Butt-Head Return Tonight. Here Are Six of Their Greatest Musical Insights

They're back! The horror!​The world-at-large is bound to associate a few things with Beavis and Butt-Head: the '90s, a ballsier MTV, low-grade animation, juvenile delinquency, crude sex talk, and two idiots who loved fire, cappuccinos, and causing mayhem. Another major B&B element that should ... More >>

Don't Relieve the Hype: Watch Two New Trailers for Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu

Lou Reed, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich​ We know, we know: Another day, another hype-inflating crumb of information about Lulu, the forthcoming collaboration album between Lou Reed and Metallica. Well, today, we get two new tidbits, both in the form of videos. One is a trailer that feels mor ... More >>

Hey, When Did Metallica's Lars Ulrich Turn into a Cool, Funny Guy?

​Over the years, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich just hasn't done a lot of things to make people like him. Let's recount: he's often an obnoxious interviewee; he pulls some of the most annoying faces in drumming history; he played a role in one of the most embarrassing music documentaries on earth, ... More >>

Rick Rubin Says Metallica Is About to Record a New Album, Plans S.F. Show

Rick Rubin: Now this is what Metallica's producer should look like.UPDATE: In more local Metallica news, a posting on the band's websit​e today indicates the band will perform at the annual Salesforce.com convention at Moscone Center on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Turns out Kirk Hammet's next-door neighbo ... More >>

Big 4 Tour: Are More U.S. Dates Likely for Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth?

Richard HaickWide-eyed Kirk Hammet, coming soon to a major city near you?​ Pretty much since the moment we heard about the Big 4 tour, we've been wanting to see it hit the U.S. Interstate system. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax have played dates all over Europe, so when they announced ... More >>

A Ke$ha Condom, and Eight More Celebrity-Endorsed Rubbers We'd Use

Prepare for your genitals to feel itchy, because LifeStyles is bringing out a line of Ke$ha condoms. Presumably, the front of the condom packet will have her face on it, accompanied by a catchy tagline -- something to encourage us to use such a product. Something threatening, maybe? Perhaps: "If y ... More >>

Metallica Plans New Record That's Not Actually a New Metallica Record

​The latest less-than-clear-message from the Metallica camp: Cigar aficionado/lead guitarist Kirk Hammet has let slip that the band is planning to head back into the studio in May -- but not exactly to record a new Metallica record. Hammet said the new project will only take the band two weeks -- ... More >>

Metallica Might Possibly Begin Work on New Album Next Year, Maybe

"This is boring, let's write some songs!"​After nearly two years of touring in support of the 2008 album Death Magnetic -- the return-to-form-of-sorts that followed the musical and image disaster of 2003's St. Anger -- the Bay Area's own Metallica is discussing plans to record its next album. Of c ... More >>

Top 5 Bands That, Unlike Weezer, Should Never Break Up -- No Matter How Bad They Get

By now you've probably heard of Seattle resident James Burns' bid to raise $10 million to make Weezer break up. You may have also heard that, disturbingly, Burns has been the target of death threats for his brilliant idea prank. Frankly, we can see both sides here:  Weezer (apart from its new t ... More >>

Metallica May Be Planning (Especially) 'Theatrical' Tour

Who you callin' theatrical?​At first, when we heard that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told a New Zealand newspaper that his Bay Area metal band is working on a "theatrical" new tour, were kinda confused. Did he mean a tour of smaller theaters (which would be rad, although likely impossible t ... More >>

Ex-Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted's SF Art Exhibit

Jason Newsted's "Absenthe Won" (Acrylic, ink, dry pastel on canvas) ​ As we all learned in Some Kind of Monster, Metallica's big shredders harbor sensitive sides. The therapy doc introduced the headbanging public to the ways these dudes deviate from the hard rock tough guy st ... More >>

Last Night: Metallica at HP Pavillion

​Metallica December 12, 2009 HP Pavilion At San Jose Better than: Getting drunk with your boss at the office holiday party. Still alive and kicking out the jams more than a quarter of a century after making Kill 'Em All, Metallica doesn't really have anything left to prove. The band members are ... More >>

Metallica's Hetfield Hospitalized, Spinal Tap Rolls On

Metallica.comTime to Turn the Page? Metallica's James Hetfield New Music Express has reported that that Metallica's James Hetfield was hospitalized for "a stomach bug and dehydration," forcing a cancellation of a March 8 Stockholm show .This latest health-related incident parallels a similar incid ... More >>

Metallica: Metal heroes once more

Metallica

Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.)

Almost Famous

It's never been easier to start your own (fake) band.

Poets Invade S.F.

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Bouncer

The best place to ponder the Metallica movie Some Kind of Monster: Zeitgeist, of course

Leaning Sideways

In a year when small movies came up big, picking the best was a Payne

Up From the Underworld

This year, blood-soaked extreme metal took its rightful place in the world of heavy music.

Head Trip

Between hard rock and a safe place, Metallica finds itself

Summer Film Previews

Metallica

St. Anger

And Justice for a Few

Metallica gets intimate

House Of Tudor

Gothic blues, creature features, and a respite for the H.E.A.R.-ing impaired

Riff Raff

Free Lars Ulrich!; New Groove; Sound Off

Riff Raff

Everything I Ever Needed to Know About the Music Business I Learned From Eddie Money, etc...

Night Crawler

Suspended Adulation

Fanfare for the Common Band

Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony play the Berkeley Community Theater for two nights, and for what?

Air Canada

Behind his back, Kevin Dabbs' home-brew tape of his air drumming has drawn a growing cult in San Francisco

Riff Raff

Night Crawler

Recordings